Article Summary
- Printhead capping technology is designed to prevent drying, condensation at the nozzle, and capture ink ejected from the nozzles.
- When designing a printhead capping unit, developers should consider its impact on possible print streaks.
- Key elements of a printhead capping environment include printbar sealed enclosure, humidity controls, moisturizer materials, and replenisher.
A capping unit (Fig. 1) is often used to prevent inkjet printheads from drying out while not actively printing. However, sometimes the capping unit may cause streaks in the output.
![Capping Unit](https://inkjet-accelerator.fujifilm.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/T-6_EN_01.jpg)
In this article, we review the functions of the capping unit, how it can cause unacceptable output, and how to overcome these.